Letting Go
by Little Falcon
Summary: NaruSaku... Naruto attempts the impossible... finally... he's letting her go...


**Letting Go**

_Disclaimer: I don't own anything at all._

_A/N: Minna-san, here's another dramatic one shot hope read and review onegai…_

"**The love you can't have lasts the longest, feels the strongest and hurts the most."**

_"Wait!!!" a female voice he knew so well made him look back. It was her… the girl with luminescent emerald orbs and dazzling pink hair. "Sakura-chan," the whiskered shinobi faced the kunoichi. _

_"I heard from hokage-sama that even you can't convince Sasuke to stay. We have no choice but to use force to bring him back. We can't take you with us. Sakura, your job is done," the Konoha genius said flatly._

_"Then, Sakura… you had a chance to talk to Sasuke…" as the blond took a step forward, Sakura bowed her head as tears trickled down her cheeks and landed on the ground._

_"Naruto… this is the only favor I will ask of you…" there was so much pain in her voice that he wished he didn't have to hear the rest. He knew what his pink haired teammate would ask for. Though he wished that somehow her request concerns his safety, he knew all to well that was impossible. "Bring Sasuke-kun back… I couldn't convince him… I couldn't stop him. I'm sure the only person who can stop him… the only person who can save him is… you… Naruto… only you," he felt something intolerable in his chest. Breathing was becoming impossible. _

_In his mind, "It's not her request that made this pain… it's the look in his eyes saying that the only person she will love is the person who left her broken with nothing but a delusional one-sided love." Right then and there… he knew the path Sakura chose did not lead to him. _

_He felt impeding tears so he had to close his eyes as he made the nice-guy pose. "I will bring Sasuke back for sure. This is a promise of a lifetime." He wanted to look natural… as if nothing's wrong… but he can't stop his hand from shaking or his heart from breaking. _

Light peeked through his thin curtain and tickled his eyes to open. Slowly, the whiskered shinobi opened his eyes to find a stray tear in his eye. "That dream again eh?" he said lazily as he put his head over his head as he stared at his ceiling.

_Why do I have that dream every night? _Naruto took a deep breath and then finally pulled himself together. "I have a mission with Sakura today… I'm gonna do my best!!!" he jumped out of his messy bed and threw in his usual attire.

_Footsteps echoed from the silent road as the moonlight revealed a boy with spiked hair and onyx eyes. Stepping forward, she looked straight at him and to the bag he was carrying. "He's leaving?!" her heart panicked together with her mind. _

_"What are you doing wandering here at night?" the Uchiha protégé said in his usual cold tone. "Because in order to get out of the village, you have to take his road," she tried to sound normal but her voice couldn't stop shaking. "Go home and sleep," he walked by her like she was not there. _

_Her heart felt like it was about to burst. "Why…" she felt hot tears flow down her cheeks. "Why won't you tell me anything? Why do you always stay silent?" her mouth translated but in what she truly wants to say is "Don't go… I need you… I love you so don't go…" _

_"Why do I have to tell you anything?" Sasuke cut her statement short. That made it more painful… "It's none of your business. Stop concerning yourself with what I do..." he said in an irritated tone. More tears came… she always prayed that somehow he would see him… though she knew all too that there was just no hope for that. He made it crystal clear to her now._

_"You always hated me huh?" she faced him with a sad look in her eyes. "Do you remember the day we became genins and when the three member team was first chosen? The day you and I were alone… you got mad at me remember?" she tried to prolong his stay hoping that he would somehow change his mind as she pleaded to the heavens to make him stay. _

_"I don't remember," he answered blatantly. She never noticed her tears stopped but hearing his reply made them reappear… more painful than before. "Makes sense that something happened a while back," she rationalized for him as her vision grew couldy from so much tears. "But that's the day everything started… you and I and also Naruto and Kakashi-sensei… the four of us completed a number of missions together. They were tough and a lot of work but above all… it was fun!" she faked a smile as her tears never ceased. _

_"I know about you clan but revenge… that won't make anyone happy… no one… neither you nor I," she didn't understand what he felt… but she wanted him to stay. "Say I'm selfish but… I want him here… if not by my side but at least in my sight," she said to herself. _

_"Just as I thought… I'm different from you guys. I tried to think that it was my path to do the things we've done up until now. The fours of us did things together but my heart decided on revenge in the end. That's my purpose in life… I can't become like you or Naruto," each and every word felt like a dagger that stuck her soul. He was determined on leaving them behind and there's nothing else she could do except... _

_"Are you going to choose to be alone again? On that day, you thought me that solitude was painful. I understand that so well right now. I have a family and I have friends, but if you're gone… to me… it'll be the same as being alone!" she poured her heart out for him… for that little hope that somehow… he would reconsider. _

_ "From here on, a new path will open for all of us," that was his answer. "I… I love you so much! If you stay with me… I'll make sure you won't regret it. Everyday will be fun. We'll definitely be happy. I'll do anything for you… so please…stay here. I'll help you with your revenge. I'll do something so please stay here… with me. If you can't stay...take me with you." She ready to do anything for him… she made that perfectly clear for him but…_

_"You really are annoying," the look in his eyes was the same just like always…_

The sound of her alarm clock rang in her head. BASH!!! With her unconscious strength, another alarm clock became a victim. "Ahh, I did it again," she grinned devilishly. _He never loved me… he just cared. _This was the mantra she would often say when she had that dream.The pink haired kunoichi threw away her blanket and arranged her bed in the blink of an eye.

"Naruto! You're late!" she yelled at the running blond. "Gomen, Sakura-chan…" he scratched the back of his head in his usual carefree manner. "I can't be helped… shall we get going then?" she smiled at him. "Yeah!" he did too.

On their way to the Water country, they talked and joked around just like always… with Naruto ending up with huge bump in his head while Sakura sat on his back laughing triumphantly.

_I can never hate her for not loving me… I never can never hate her for thinking of Sasuke but I hate it when she's unconsciously making me fall even more when I'm trying so hard to let go. _This interaction between him and her was one of the moments he wished to last forever.

As she gazed at his charming smile and clumsy actions, her smile turned from happy to painful. In three years, the two of them grew accustomed to each other's presence. And it was in those times that Sakura was able to answer three important questions.

_What is regret? Its knowing you can't get back the things that you let to pass by. What hurts the most? Knowing that the love you once had will belong to someone else. What is the worst thing in the world? It's loving someone who used to love you back. _

"Sakura-chan!!!" she snapped out of her trance to find Naruto hugging her tightly as three shurikens plunged in his back. "Naruto!!!" with their trained skills and speed the two erased the five jounins from the picture.

"That was an idiotic thing to do you know," she said as she knelt beside him and healed his wounds. "Datte… Sakura-chan you were spacing out…" he conjugated as he knew the short temper of his pink haired teammate. "Shut up already," she touched his open wound. "Ittai!!!" he shouted.

"Why do have to go so far to protect me?" he felt something drip on his back. "Sakura-chan I'm sure you've heard it from me many times but… I love you… you know that…" Sakura looked at his back as tears uncontrollably welled up in her eyes.

"But… I've hurt you so many times…" she bowed her head in regret wishing she could turn back time. "That may be true… but…" he gradually turned around to look at her.

_Since when did Naruto became this handsome? _Her inner self questioned. True, Naruto did grew up into someone with great personality and better looks but Sakura can't see that before… until now.

"You're worth each and every pain…" at that moment her tears stop as she looked into his honest sapphire eyes. "Naruto!!!" she threw herself at him. He cushioned their fall while never letting her go.

They didn't know who moved first but at that moment when their lips touched… they realized…letting go is just a difficult step onto something better…

_A/N: Minna-san… read and review onegai…_


End file.
